The conference will be hosted by Santiago Íñiguez de Onzoño, President at IE University and Dean at IE Business School

Prof. Casanova will present the main insights from her recently published book on Brazil, co-authored with Julian Kassum. Their book discusses whether Brazil’s rise on the global stage is barely beginning, or whether it has already hit a plateau, held back by numerous domestic challenges and the external constraints of the global governance system. In spite of the current political and economic turmoil, the work shows that Brazil’s hard power capability is greater than it is often believed, that this power largely rests on its energy, food and financial reserves. But Brazil’s biggest strength lies in its soft power as Brazil is able to ‘seduce’ other states with its culture, values and policies. Brazil developed its own model of growth with some features of state capitalism and innovative forms of welfare. The authors examine the role played by the state in the Brazilian business and industry sector and ask whether the ‘Brazilian model’ was an alternative to the old ‘Washington Consensus’. Finally, they assess the country’s numerous domestic challenges and how these may prevent it from becoming an effective global power. These challenges are found in the economic and social areas as well as in the educational area and are similar to those of other emerging countries.